Chicks Dig
by Beeblebabe
Summary: According to Maxim magazine, the best way to pick up girls is by having a puppy with you. Kurenai's team, no spoilers.


            It was the kind of warm spring day that made bees go pollen-mad.  Tomorrow it would likely rain, the sort of torrent that would bring earthworms up to the surface for air, but today it was warm, and for that, Shino was pleased.  There were no missions today, no training; Kurenai had let them off to enjoy the weather.  Kiba claimed that it was probably just because she had some sort of hot date to prepare for, but he didn't do so in earshot after the last time he'd ended up tied to a tree for the better part of a morning.

            Shino had chosen a prime spot in the west side Konoha public park to enjoy the day.  Not too shady, not too bright, and he didn't even have to close his eyes to feel the buzzing of life around him.  Spring was a good time for all varieties of insects, as warmth and new life in the plants revived them after the long cold of winter.  The park was full of people as well, of course, but in terms of numbers, they were the minority, and thus very easy to ignore.  Shino closed his eyes and smiled as he recharged in the warm sun, but no one could see him do either, so it was alright.

            There was a family of wasps growing under the bench he sat on, but before he could get to know them, a familiar sound drew Shino's attention back to the mammalian world.  Akamaru's bark.  He could see the dog and his young master entering that section of the park.  Kiba raised his hand in brief greeting, which Shino returned with a nod, but the boy made no move to join him.  Instead, he pulled a ball out of his pocket and waggled it in the air.

            "C'mon, boy! C'mon! You wanna play?" Kiba slapped his thigh quickly with one hand and held the ball out to Akamaru, who barked again.  "Yeah, you wanna play, don't you? Don't you?"  He threw the ball, but not very far, and Akamaru bounded off after it.  "C'mon, boy, get it!  That's a good boy!"  Akamaru returned, tail wagging, and dropped the ball at Kiba's feet.  The boy rewarded this with a vigorous behind-the-ear scritching. "Who's a good boy? You are! You're a good boy!"  And then the process began again.

            Shino frowned slightly.  This was not normal behavior for either of them.  He'd seen Kiba and Akamaru playing on numerous occasions (more often than he'd seen either of them working, he might wager), and this was not how either of them would behave.  Kiba always spoke to Akamaru as an equal, more like a person than a dog, and their play would follow suit.  If Kiba threw a ball for Akamaru to fetch, Akamaru would throw it back for Kiba to fetch.  It was far, far more ridiculous to watch than this current display...

            Two young women, seemingly a few years older than the both of them, came up to Kiba and began to coo and fuss over Akamaru, who compounded the problem by rolling in the grass to show off his belly.  _Ah_, thought Shino.  _The plan reveals itself_.

            "That is the _cutest_ dog _ever_!" the first girl exclaimed as she dropped down on her knees in the grass to rub Akamaru's stomach.  "What's his name?"

            Kiba puffed up in some attempt at suaveness and grinned.  "His name's Akamaru.  And _I'm_ Inuzuka Kiba.  And you ladies are...?"

            "_Akamaru!_" the second girl squeaked as she joined the first, largely ignoring Kiba and focusing on scritching behind Akamaru's ears.  "Isn't that just a wonderful name?  A sweet name for a _sweet puppy_ yes you are!"

            Akamaru barked at this, and the girls broke into giggles.  Kiba shifted a little from foot to foot and cleared his throat with a grunt.  "I raised him from a puppy, you know.  We're always together... he's really my best friend."

            "Uh-huh? That's nice."  The first girl grabbed hold of Akamaru's paws and laughed again.  "Look at how big your paws are! You're going to grow into a big, big boy!"

            The second girl sighed and petted the underside of Akamaru's chin.  "When you grow up, you come be my guard dog, okay, Akamaru?"

            "Uh, well..." Before Kiba could finish faltering, Akamaru's ears perked and he flipped back onto all fours.  His nose twitched as he sniffed the air, and then took off away from the two girls, and towards... another dog.  Apparently a female one, from the sort of enthusiastic sniffing going on.

            The two girls stood up, laughing a little and dusting dirt from their knees.  Kiba stopped glaring after his dog and gave them both a big grin.  "Well, you know, springtime _is_ mating season, after all... Speaking of that, what were your names again?"

            Shino smiled, just a little, as the girls laughed uneasily and glanced at each other.  He closed his eyes and reached out with his chakra, whispering a _please, come_ to those who would listen.  When he opened his eyes again, the first butterfly had come to flutter in front of him, and he held out his hand for her to land and taste his chakra.  She seemed satisfied and cooled her wings in the air while resting on his skin.  Her call reached out to others, and shortly, Shino was swarmed with butterflies of all colors and sizes.  He stretched out his arms for them to land, and heard the twin squeaks of girls not that far away.

            "Look at _him!_"  And then the girls were nearly running to get to him, and he had to focus calm to keep the butterflies from scattering.

            "That's so wonderful!"

            "They're beautiful!"

            "How do you do that?"

            "Oh, oh, can you make one land on me?"

            "What's your name?"

            Shino just smiled behind his collar and glanced past the girls at the fuming Kiba, who stomped off to where Akamaru had fled to, loudly grumbling, "What the hell was _that_? You were supposed to be my wingman!"

            Shino let the butterflies go to swarm the girls, making them laugh more, and kept his smile to himself.  Springtime was good for all sorts of insects.


End file.
